Anchorage for artificial teeth



I June 17, 1952 R, E, HALL 1 2,600,496

ANCHORAGE FOR ARTIFICIAL TEETH Filed July 26, 1948 ATTORNEY Patented June 17, 1952 UNITED stares era This invention relates to anchorage for-aruficial teeth.

Satisfactory anchorage of artificial teeth'ha's heretofore been a dental problem which has not, to the present timefbeen satisfactorily-solved.

This has been caused mainly for three reasons: dislodgement of the tooth from its anchorage because of breakage due to the frangibilityof the material of which the tooth is made; or dislodgeme'nt of the tooth from its anchorage due to the frangib'ility of theretaining'material; or dislodgement of both the tooth and "the retaining material, intact, from the metal retaining frame, in theca'se of bridge and partial denture restorations, because of inadequate frame fretention due to faulty design of the frame.

The difficult problem is to secure the tooth, the retaining material and the frame, all as a whole, against separation one from the other.

This requires anon-breakable tooth and'a differently designed tooth and frame for better retention than has been, or now is, used.

An object of the present invention is to provide a tooth of the'ch'arac'ter described "which will not break and thereby will prevent dislodge- 'ment of the tooth'from its anchorage.

A further object of the invention is to produce a tooth which provides retention that allows for sufiicient bulk of the retaining material so as to prevent the retaining material from breaking and which will thereby prevent dislodgement of the tooth from its anchorage.

A still further object of the invention is to produce a metal retaining-frame ofsuch design that it will provide retention adequate to secure the frame to the retaining material and thereby prevent .dislodgement of theframe from itsanchorage.

Gther objects and advantages will be apparent from the following specification which is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a mesial side view of a bicuspid tooth illustrating the invention.

Figure 2 is a similar view of the type of tooth shown in Figure 1, with the tooth material removed from openings into the retention cavity.

Figure 3 is a transverse, sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 4.

Figure 4 is a lingual view of the type of tooth shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the tooth as anchored to the denture and taken on the line 5-5 of Figure6.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the assembly shown in Figure 5.

Figure? is 'a sectional view o'f another embodiment of the tooth.

Figure 8 is a sectional view substantially-similar' to that shown in Figure '7 but embodyingh cross-pin, and

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional viewtaken on the line "9-4! of Figure '8.

Referring now more particularly 'to the' di a'wings wherein like numerals of refe'renc'e d' the same parts 'ineach of thefig'uresthe'nu eral l designates a type of tooth eempeseder su'i-tabie material such asmethyl nretnacrylate resin reinforced with a' hollo'w-metal insert, a's-2. his insert is provided for the purpose orreinfer' the tooth against breakage and forming the most spacious retention cavity 3-possible so as to receive sufficient bulk of the retaining material I, of the denture, to prevent the retaining material from breaking and as best illustrated in Figure; 6.

As shown in Figure '2'tl'le're is provided ih' the mesial side of the tooth l, and the insert 2,- an opening 5 into the retention cavitye, said opening being res'trictedat its upper 'rootend 6 'to term a-loek't'o secure the toothto theretaining-ma- 'terial.

tooth l. The openings 5, "l andB ar-e provided to receive the denture material to lock the tooth to the denture as shown in Figured In a tooth h-aving'the cavity 3 and the openings 5, l and 8 provision is made for adequate bulk of the retaining material 9 to give sufficient strength to the retainingmatenal "'to prevent breakage and there Will be sllffici'ent retention to secure the tooth against dislodgement from its anchorage. This retaining material may be reinforced by a metal frame as It) as shown in Figures 5 and 6.

One or more of the above mentioned side openings 5, l and B may be used at the discretion of the operator, all of them being closed with the tooth material, as shown in Figure 1, when molding the tooth subject to optional use of one or more of them as desired by removing said tooth material.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 7 the metal insert 2a is shown to extend to, and to form a part of, the occlusal surface of the tooth and which also reinforces the cusps of the tooth.

In the event greater strength may be required in exceptionally short teeth, as indicated in Figure 8, a reinforcement insert, such as the crosspin ll may be. provided to further increase the strength of the tooth.

The insert 2a is shown in Figure 8 to extend beyond the occlusal surface l2 of the tooth which allows for grinding in the occlusion of the tooth without grinding into and blunting the body of the tooth proper thereby impairing the masticating efi'iciency of the tooth.

While the illustrations do not show application of the invention to molar teeth and to anterior teeth, or to mechanically designed nonanatomical teeth, such as, for example, cuspless fiat occlusal plane teeth, known as inverted cusp teeth, it is to be understood that it does apply to these teeth the same as it does to bicuspid teeth shown in the illustrations and described in the specification.

The illustrationsshown and described depict teeth having adequate strength to secure them against breakage; retention, suiiiciently spacious to allow for bulk of the retaining material adequate to secure the retaining material against breakage; and design for the metal retaining frame providing adequate retention to prevent the frame from being dislodged from the retaining material, all of which secure the teeth, the retaining material and the frame, all as a whole, against separation one from the other.

The drawings and description are illustrative merely of what is now considered to be preferred embodiments of the invention by way of illustration only and not by way of limitation while the broad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An artificial denture comprising a denture plate formed of moldable material a tooth formed of moldable material and attached to said plate, a hollow tubular insert incorporated into the material of the tooth and which is open at the root end of the tooth, said insert having a side opening shaped to form a lock with the plate material and a cross-pin extending through the insert to reenforce the insert.

2. An artificial denture comprising a denture plate formed of moldable material, a tooth formed of moldable material and attached to said plate, a hollow axially disposed, tubular insert incorporated into the material of the tooth and extending beyond the occlusal surface of the tooth and which is open at the root end of the tooth, the root end of said insert having a plurality of marginal openings shaped to form looks with the plate material.

3. In an artificial denture the combination with a tooth having a transverse cavity to receive retaining material, of a denture plate formed of moldable material, a retaining frame embedded in said plate and having an anchor which extends into said cavity and which reinforces the retaining material in the cavity.

4. An artificial denture comprising a denture plate formed of moldable material, a tooth formed of moldable material and attached to said plate, a hollow axially disposed, perforated insert as an integral part of the tooth, said insert being open at the root end of the tooth and at the lingual, mesial and distal sides of the tooth to form retention locks between the tooth material and the insert and between the plate material and tooth said insert extending from the root of the tooth beyond the occlusal surface thereof.

5. An artificial denture comprising a denture plate formed of moldable material, a tooth formed of moldable material and attached to said plate, a hollow axially disposed, perforated insert as an integral part of the tooth, said insert being open at the root end of the tooth and at the lingual, mesial and distal sides of the tooth to form retention locks between the tooth material and the insert and between the plate material and tooth, said insert extending to, and forming part of, the occlusal surface of the tooth.

6. An artificial denture comprising a denture plate formed of moldable material, a tooth formed of moldable material and attached to said plate, a hollow, perforated insert as an integral part of the tooth, said insert being open at the root end of the tooth and at the lingual, mesial and distal sides of the tooth to form retention locks between the tooth material and the insert and between the plate material and the tooth, said insert extending beyond said occlusal surface.

7. An artificial denture comprising a denture plate formed of moldable material, a tooth formed of moldable material and attached to said plate, an axially disposed tubular insert embedded in and surrounded by the material of the tooth and which is open at the root end of the tooth, said insert extending to and forming a part of the occlusal surface of the tooth.

RUPERT E. HALL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 726,381 Unruh Apr. 28, 1903 1,639,782 Nies Aug. 23, 1927 1,753,644 Burden Apr. 8, 1930 2,295,864 Prange Sept. 15, 1942 2,397,407 Butler Mar. 26, 1946 

